September 2005
Wow. Making things better or getting things organized must be euphemisms for the shock of the truth.
In September I thought I would just participate in a little clean up of the billing department so that our collections (i.e. cash flow) could improve. (I had a list of several things to accomplish during September. The clean up was supposed to be just one of them.) I thought I could just look at things and identify what processes needed to be tightened up. In fact, it turns out that I spent the majority of the month buried in computer files, A/R reports, patient statements, insurance billing coding manuals, program screens I have never seen and, unfortunately, more. The end of the month was a crescendo of staff meetings to review what I had found. Needless to say, there were some stressful conversations at the meetings. (One of the things I found out was that several of our reliable, tried-and-true procedures and processes had broken down for no-good-reason other than some of the staff thought they could wing it. To add insult to injury, our checklist that audits work processes was checked off as if everything was being done. The staff justified it by saying that they were doing it in their heads.) In short, I did not see, hear, smell, feel or taste September. It might never have existed for all I know.
The good news is that I did make some progress, and as anyone probably feels after such an acute learning curve, I am empowered by the information I gathered and the changes I have made or foresee making. Ginny, my coach, has been helpful in several ways, one of which is most valuable. She told me to slow down and reintroduce the old processes and procedures more tenderly than I was planning. I was as mad and anxious as a hornet when I had all of my facts and data in front of me, and I intended to get it all straightened out right now ! She encouraged me to hold back. Wise advice, I think. (My temper has gotten me in trouble before.) Ginny reminded me of one of my mottos to live by: Staff retention increases patient retention. So, I reined myself in and have been taking it one painful, plodding step at a time. I think that I did get some other things accomplished in the month 's flurry, but it is hard to think of them right now. I am still suffering from the billing department aftershocks. It is really true that bad cash flow can be the downfall of a perfectly busy business. The benefits of this month's brutality: I have gotten a better idea of what to insist upon as reports and actions of any manager who comes in here in the future. (Right now I am acting as manager.) That is one of the two big weaknesses in the history of this business (i.e. never a really effective manager and no sales department), so it feels right to get some more clarity and intention on the subject.
The focus of these last months has been to grow this business, yet most of the actions have been out of my comfort zone and have given me the impression that I am going nowhere fast. I have to remind myself that I love this business; I love being a creator of this business; How much I believe in the mission and products of this business. Finally, what else would I rather be doing? Nothing other than this; And that is the truth. I am inspired by a passage I recently read, and will share it here in closing. It is from a text I have on Christian Mysticism, and refers to Jewish Mystical idea of tsimtsum the withdrawal of God, of the lurianic school of the Cabbala. (Don 't worry. You do not have to be interested in the source to love the passage!) The first act of En-Soph, the Infinite Being, is therefore not a step outside but a step inside, a movement of recoil, of falling back upon oneself, of withdrawing into oneself. Instead of emanation we have the opposite, contraction The first act of all is not an act of revelation but one of limitation. Only in the second act does God send out a ray of His light and begin His revelation, or rather His unfolding as God the Creator, in the primordial space of His own creation. More than that, every new act of emanation and manifestation is preceded by one of concentration and retraction. (Gershom G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, London, 1955, p.261 It really makes my heart sing. Tomorrow afternoon I will meet with Ginny to get a reality check on my plans for October. I will, officially, wrap up September. All hail a new day!
In September I thought I would just participate in a little clean up of the billing department so that our collections (i.e. cash flow) could improve. (I had a list of several things to accomplish during September. The clean up was supposed to be just one of them.) I thought I could just look at things and identify what processes needed to be tightened up. In fact, it turns out that I spent the majority of the month buried in computer files, A/R reports, patient statements, insurance billing coding manuals, program screens I have never seen and, unfortunately, more. The end of the month was a crescendo of staff meetings to review what I had found. Needless to say, there were some stressful conversations at the meetings. (One of the things I found out was that several of our reliable, tried-and-true procedures and processes had broken down for no-good-reason other than some of the staff thought they could wing it. To add insult to injury, our checklist that audits work processes was checked off as if everything was being done. The staff justified it by saying that they were doing it in their heads.) In short, I did not see, hear, smell, feel or taste September. It might never have existed for all I know.
The good news is that I did make some progress, and as anyone probably feels after such an acute learning curve, I am empowered by the information I gathered and the changes I have made or foresee making. Ginny, my coach, has been helpful in several ways, one of which is most valuable. She told me to slow down and reintroduce the old processes and procedures more tenderly than I was planning. I was as mad and anxious as a hornet when I had all of my facts and data in front of me, and I intended to get it all straightened out right now ! She encouraged me to hold back. Wise advice, I think. (My temper has gotten me in trouble before.) Ginny reminded me of one of my mottos to live by: Staff retention increases patient retention. So, I reined myself in and have been taking it one painful, plodding step at a time. I think that I did get some other things accomplished in the month 's flurry, but it is hard to think of them right now. I am still suffering from the billing department aftershocks. It is really true that bad cash flow can be the downfall of a perfectly busy business. The benefits of this month's brutality: I have gotten a better idea of what to insist upon as reports and actions of any manager who comes in here in the future. (Right now I am acting as manager.) That is one of the two big weaknesses in the history of this business (i.e. never a really effective manager and no sales department), so it feels right to get some more clarity and intention on the subject.
The focus of these last months has been to grow this business, yet most of the actions have been out of my comfort zone and have given me the impression that I am going nowhere fast. I have to remind myself that I love this business; I love being a creator of this business; How much I believe in the mission and products of this business. Finally, what else would I rather be doing? Nothing other than this; And that is the truth. I am inspired by a passage I recently read, and will share it here in closing. It is from a text I have on Christian Mysticism, and refers to Jewish Mystical idea of tsimtsum the withdrawal of God, of the lurianic school of the Cabbala. (Don 't worry. You do not have to be interested in the source to love the passage!) The first act of En-Soph, the Infinite Being, is therefore not a step outside but a step inside, a movement of recoil, of falling back upon oneself, of withdrawing into oneself. Instead of emanation we have the opposite, contraction The first act of all is not an act of revelation but one of limitation. Only in the second act does God send out a ray of His light and begin His revelation, or rather His unfolding as God the Creator, in the primordial space of His own creation. More than that, every new act of emanation and manifestation is preceded by one of concentration and retraction. (Gershom G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, London, 1955, p.261 It really makes my heart sing. Tomorrow afternoon I will meet with Ginny to get a reality check on my plans for October. I will, officially, wrap up September. All hail a new day!
posted by Dr. Amelia Case at Thursday, January 05, 2006
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